Okay, so yes, it's the afternoon and I'm just not putting up a post. I'd like to say it was because I had a crazy busy weekend, but it was actually pretty relaxed and lazy but I'm still blaming that. It was a much needed slow weekend with my man and I didn't spend time on the computer.
BUT, I did spend time making sausage balls last night and I'd like to share my recipe! I only make these at Christmas and I just love them so much. My mom used to always make them Christmas Eve and we'd eat on them all day and into Christmas Day. Now, I've taken that job on and I decided to make some for my team at work!
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Monday, December 19, 2016
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
A Day at The Biltmore House
If you follow along on Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat (you should!), you would have see that Christian and I made our annual trip to The Biltmore House in Asheville on Friday. We have done this every year since getting engaged, and it is truly on of my favorite days of the year.
We spend the entire day just soaking up time with each other with no distractions. We get to move at our own pace and do exactly what we want with no real responsibilities. So. Much. Fun.
We spend the entire day just soaking up time with each other with no distractions. We get to move at our own pace and do exactly what we want with no real responsibilities. So. Much. Fun.
Monday, December 12, 2016
8 Ideas for a White Elephant Exchange
It's that time of year again: holiday parties and gift exchanges. AKA, the time when you try to find a good gift for the White Elephant exchange but can't figure out what to get and it's the night before and you're scrounging around Target for literally anything that might work. Oh no? Just me then?
Well, if you're anything like me, I'm here to solve that problem for you. This list is also going to be full of "real gifts". As much as I love the gag gift white elephant exchange, I love "real" gifts more and that's what my team at work did. Everything on this list is around $20 or less!
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Things I Can Live Without (But Don't Want To)
We can all agree that overall 2016 hasn't been that great of a year for the country as a whole, right? While most of my personal life has been pretty phenomenal, the crazy natural disasters, all the deaths, the nasty election and just general nastiness of the year hasn't made 2016 the most pleasant ever. But, that doesn't mean there aren't some really good things that I love this year. I'll preface this by saying most of these are pretty surface level so I hope you weren't looking for something deep and meaningful on this hump day ;)
Monday, December 5, 2016
Our 2016 Christmas Cards
Since getting married, there aren't that many things that changed in our lives. I changed my last name, we bought a house and got a puppy, but hey, other than those things - not terribly much. Another thing that did change, though, is that I'm now sending out Christmas cards!
I wanted to save Christmas cards to be one of our married traditions and I'm glad we did! It feels so special getting to take a few special pictures of us and Ellie every year. Yes, I left out Zuko because he's not a fan of Ellie and we could never get them both to sit still in the same spot... ever. Plus, Zuko doesn't like the outdoors and Christmas card pictures just look so much better outside! But, he still gets included as you can see from our 2015 card!
Friday, December 2, 2016
Five on Friday!
I've been a little slow in Blogland this week - my apologies! I've been trying to get everything organized so I can really enjoy the season! Thankfully, I did a lot in October and November to prepare : ) But, check out the wreath I made last weekend - so easy and affordable! Today I wanted to pop back in for 5 on Friday!
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
How To: DIY Christmas Wreath
Hi friends! Long time, no see! I took a little blog hiatus to truly enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with my family. I did a guest post on Grace, Love Life last week, though, if you'd like to check it out! I got off work early Wednesday and Christian and I were able to go out for dinner and spend some time together. We spend Thursday with his family and even started off the Christmas season by watching Christmas Vacation!
Friday, all I did was watch Gilmore Girls. I have zero shame in that and I'm ready to watch it again. Saturday we got our Christmas tree from a great nursery here in Charlotte and they have AMAZING trees and prices. Our tree was chopped down Friday night and we picked it up Saturday morning - and it is HUGE. That night, we went to Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden with our friends and spent all day Sunday decorating. It was an amazing long weekend.
Friday, all I did was watch Gilmore Girls. I have zero shame in that and I'm ready to watch it again. Saturday we got our Christmas tree from a great nursery here in Charlotte and they have AMAZING trees and prices. Our tree was chopped down Friday night and we picked it up Saturday morning - and it is HUGE. That night, we went to Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden with our friends and spent all day Sunday decorating. It was an amazing long weekend.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Gift Guide: Your Black Friday Shopping List
Y'all. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am pumped. Lemme just beat a dead horse here and remind you why: Gilmore Girls. Okay, okay, I won't talk about it today but feel free to check out how I'll be celebrating.
Today I want to talk about the other activity I'll be doing (besides eating) while binging: shopping. I mentioned earlier this Fall that I had bought a couple of gifts and had a list started. Well, my list is almost complete and I'm ready to tackle the sales this weekend!
In order to prepare, I've started scouring the websites and keeping track of all my emails so I know where I want to "go" first. Because I'm not actually leaving my couch until Saturday ;) Not all of these are purchases I'm actually making, but I wanted to share some good finds with you guys!
Monday, November 21, 2016
How To Enjoy the Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life
Happy Thanksgiving week, friends! I've already celebrated twice (once at work and once with my side of the family) but I'm ready for the official day. The main reason? Because Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life comes out Friday. I've only mentioned this a few times now...
I've been a fan for so long and I never liked the last season and hated how Rory's story ended. I like that she got a job she was excited for but I didn't feel like she had to lose Logan to get it. She's a modern woman and can have it all! I also hated how Lane's story ended - twins after her first time?! No way. So, needless to say, I'm ready to see how things really ended up.
Friday, November 18, 2016
5 on Friday: Thanksgiving Edition
This time next week, I’ll be deeply engrossed in Gilmore
Girls: A Year in the Life with coffee, pop tarts and any other junk food I can
find. I’ll also be knocking out our Christmas list via online Black Friday
sales (WHY are people still shopping in
stores?? Online deals are better and there’s no shipping. More details next
week ;) ). I. Cannot. WAIT.
Let’s jump right into today’s 5 on Friday why don’t we?
Let’s jump right into today’s 5 on Friday why don’t we?
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Gift Guide: For the Barre Lover
I will be doing a couple of gift guides over the next few weeks focused on some specific topics or people in your life. You're not going to see the basic "gifts for your bestie" or "gifts for the hostess". Don't get me wrong, those have given me some great ideas, but I'd like to be a little more specialized over here!
I'm obsessed with Pure Barre. I think I've made that very clear over the last year and a half. I can also bet you probably know at least one person in your circle that loves it, too. Or maybe that's you and you want to add these to your own wish list ;)
Monday, November 14, 2016
A Much Needed Weekend
Do you ever have one of those weekends where you didn’t do
anything extraordinary, but it was still a good weekend? That was this weekend
for us.
We sometimes dog sit through Rover and we had one of our
favorite little guests this weekend: Riley. He’s a collie/golden retriever and
oh so sweet. He loves to cuddle and he and Ellie play just enough to get tired
but not enough to be annoying about it.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Thoughts for Thursday: Thankfulness.
It feels weird just getting back to normal life after such a crazy Tuesday/Wednesday. I had some fun posts for this week but I think I'm going to wait. But, I also don't want to write about the election because it's heavy and enough people have written some great posts: Helene , Amanda, Maggie and Derek and Alyssa.
So today, I'm going to talk about what I'm thankful for.
So today, I'm going to talk about what I'm thankful for.
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Travel Tuesday: Boone, NC
GUYS. It's Election Day. No, this isn't a big long rant about one of the candidates or how you need to vote (because we all know that, right?). It's a celebration about how the political ads about to end to make way for more wonderful holiday commercials and the social media rants will end (sorry, I've been a little guilty on Twitter of this but I've tried to keep it in check!). All in all, election years are the worst and I'm so glad it's over.
Onward to a much more pleasant topic: Boone, NC. Home of the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
And where I met my favorite guy in the world.
Friday, November 4, 2016
5 on Friday
Oh looky there, we have all almost survived the week and we are at Friday once again. Woot! I've sadly got a busy Friday at work but then I'm headed to Boone with these ladies and our guys!
Let's jump right in:
Let's jump right in:
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
DIY Gift Basket for a New Mama To Be
A couple of months ago, a friend of mine shared the very exciting news that she and her husband were expecting! I was one of the few who knew they were trying and so she told me as soon as they found out. She is one of my first friends to have a baby, and I'm crazy excited for her!
Since I was one of the very few who knew, I wanted to do a little something for her to celebrate. But, seeing as I've not had a baby, I had no idea what a newly pregnant mama might need. So where did I go? Pinterest! Duh!
There were so many lists out there - so this is what I picked out. Sadly, I wasn't blogging much then so I don't have as many pictures as I would like, but I'll make sure to include links to the products mentioned and there's a quick tutorial as well :)
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
How to Prepare for a Successful Holiday Season
Happy November 1st, friends!!
You can shout "too soon" at me all you want for writing a Christmas post on the first day of November, but it is OFFICIALLY the Holiday season in my opinion. I love this time of year. From October 1 through about February, I am SO happy. Some people get the winter blues - I am not some people. My love of these seasons means that I want to actually enjoy them!
We have SO much planned over the next couple of months but I'm already worried that we'll be so busy that I can't actually enjoy the season. As a result, I've already started getting things together so I can really live in the moment.
You can shout "too soon" at me all you want for writing a Christmas post on the first day of November, but it is OFFICIALLY the Holiday season in my opinion. I love this time of year. From October 1 through about February, I am SO happy. Some people get the winter blues - I am not some people. My love of these seasons means that I want to actually enjoy them!
We have SO much planned over the next couple of months but I'm already worried that we'll be so busy that I can't actually enjoy the season. As a result, I've already started getting things together so I can really live in the moment.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Embrace the Unknown and Imperfection
I'm finally linking up with Alyssa and the Back to Blogging Challenge! If you haven't heard about it, yet, go check it out right now!
The prompt I am using today is:
One thing about today that you wish you knew a year ago.
One thing about today that you wish you knew a year ago.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
An Easy, Peasy Group Halloween Costume
I'm not ready to share my Halloween costumes for this year, yet. Yes, I have two planned - one couple costume for the wedding rehearsal we're attending on Friday and one for work on actual Halloween.
Just wait until you see that one - I'm so excited!
Just wait until you see that one - I'm so excited!
Friday, October 21, 2016
What to Wear to a Fall Wedding
Next Thursday, we are leaving for Christian's best friend's wedding. This guy:
They are getting married near Asheville, NC and I am so excited! It took me awhile for me to figure out what to wear since it may or may not be cool (I mean, it's been almost 90 here this week) so I wanted to make sure it would be good either way!
For today's 5 on Friday with April, I'm going to share a few of my picks for a Fall wedding! Sadly, my dress isn't online but it has a similar vibe to a few of these!
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
How Long Will I Love You
It's been two years of wedded bliss. Holy wow.
I have a feeling that this feeling of "what the heck?!" will only get more and more every year. I am so thankful that I was lucky to meet my person as a baby. JK, I was 19 but it feels like a baby looking back on it. I have grown so much since then and I've become a better person because I have such an amazing partner supporting me.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
The Mountains Called and I Answered
Whew. This Tuesday feels so much like a Monday. But, that's probably because I was off work yesterday because we spent the weekend in Charlottesville, VA with my best friend, Kristin, and her boyfriend!
I wrote about some great things to do in Charlottesville a few weeks ago and now I have a few more to add to the list after this weekend!
I wrote about some great things to do in Charlottesville a few weeks ago and now I have a few more to add to the list after this weekend!
Friday, October 14, 2016
It's Friday, Friday!
Whoo! It's finally Friday! I absolutely adore my job but that doesn't stop me from being PUMPED about Friday. Especially when we have such an awesome weekend planned!
I'm jumping right in to a little Five on Friday action with April!
ONE // We're headed to Charlottesville today! I've got a short day at work so we should be up there in time for dinner and drinks with Kristin and her boyfriend!
I'm jumping right in to a little Five on Friday action with April!
ONE // We're headed to Charlottesville today! I've got a short day at work so we should be up there in time for dinner and drinks with Kristin and her boyfriend!
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
A Few Lessons from Cheerleading
A couple of weeks ago, I got sucked into a show on ABC Family (no, I'm not comfortable with "Freeform"... rude). I think it was called Cheer Squad or something like that. I was hooked. Christian kept giving me such a hard time because I watched it every night until I finished the whole season in just a few days.
Let me explain: I was a competitive cheerleader for quite awhile growing up and I frequently regret quitting when I did. I'll even prove it with this awful picture from the Myspace days. Man, I do not miss the duck face.
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
A Weekend in Charlotte
I've always wanted to live in Charlotte. My mom is from Charlotte and I always felt a sense of peace and "home" when I was here growing up. Lucky for me, this became a reality in 2013 after college but it still took a little time before it felt like home once I was here.
Three years later, we've really settled in and there's so much to do that we're constantly finding new things. But, I want to share some of my favorites if you've only got a weekend in town. My friend, Katherine, and her boyfriend came to visit in May and we tried to fit so much in because I'm not so secretly trying to get her to move here.
So here's an itinerary for our long weekend in Charlotte!
Monday, October 10, 2016
Autumn Trends
Sorry for being a little MIA last week. We had an all HR meeting and team bonding events every night after so I was coming straight home and going straight to bed! It's a new week, though, and it's going to be a great one because we leave for Charlottesville on Friday! I am SO looking forward to a weekend in the mountains with my best friend and our men. Especially since Christian has only spent about 3 hours in Charlottesville so far!
Anyways, I'm really here to talk about Fall fashion and some trends I'm loving for this season. A few of these are my own outfits and some are pulled from Pinterest! I've tried to link the items or at least something similar for each outfit!
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Tips for a Successful Lunchtime Workout
Let's talk about working out. Where do you fit it in? Do you wake up at the crack of dawn to get your workout out in or do you go right after work? Do you struggle to find time to even fit a workout in on a daily (or 2-3 times/week) basis? Because honestly, we all have a lot going on. I don't even have kids, yet, so I can only imagine what you mama's are dealing with! Between work, errands, social commitments, and let's be honest, our new favorite Fall shows, sometimes it's easy for your workout to fall to the side.
But, I have a solution for those who struggle like me: lunch time workouts! Now, you're thinking "Ummmm no, I'll be sweaty and smelly and no one will want to be in the same room as me at work". Not to fear, I have some answers to this, too.
Via |
Monday, October 3, 2016
Some Thoughts on Marriage
Three years ago I wrote this post talking about how lucky I was to be with Christian. Little did I know, there was a ring box hiding in our closet that he was about to give me in less than 48 hours. I cannot believe we are now three years out from that day and celebrating six years together today and will be celebrating two married years in a few weeks. Time flies when you're happy, for sure.
I'm going to save my super sappy post for our wedding anniversary since that's also an excuse to share some wedding photos ;)
I'm going to save my super sappy post for our wedding anniversary since that's also an excuse to share some wedding photos ;)
Today, though, I want to talk about getting married young. Christian and I were 25 and 23, respectively, when we got married. In the South, that's pretty normal. But, in the rest of the country, not so much.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Five on Friday!
Since I'm jumping back into this blogging game, I might as well end this first week full of posts with one of my favorite Link Ups!
ONE
Y'all. It's Fall. FINALLY. I wrote about my favorite things Monday. Basically, it's everything about this season.
This was from last year, we definitely don't have leaves yet. |
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Fall TV Binge
As I've mentioned already this week, I love Fall. I love all the things I mentioned Monday but one thing that makes me love Fall I didn't mention: TV shows!
There are a few returning shows that I'm still watching and then a few new ones that I am already enjoying so I wanted to do a quick rundown of them since you still have plenty of time to catch up on Hulu and get into them for the season!
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
How to Rock Your First Spin Class
Recently, a friend of mine dragged me to a cycle class at Cycle South in Uptown Charlotte. I have one word: ouch.
I'd like to walk you through my thoughts during that 45 minutes... In full disclosure, I don't do much cardio at all. Occasionally I'll take a Pure Barre Platform class or go on a hike. So, I do really need more cardio in my life and this was the first step for me.
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Travel Tuesday: Charlottesville, VA
Charlotte is in a great location. We are so close to so many big and fun cities (on top of being a fun city ourself!) It's so easy to have a quick weekend trip to places like DC, Nashville, Wilmington, Boone, Asheville, Savannah, Atlanta, and more. I'm going to do some posts on these cities that we've been to and plan some imaginary itineraries of where we want to go!
First up, Charlottesville.
Via |
I don't know if most people have heard of or thought of visiting Charlottesville (home of the University of Virginia) but it needs to be on your list ASAP!
Monday, September 26, 2016
Things I Love about Fall
Happy Fall, blogland! Oh and hello again. At least it's only been about a month since I last showed my face on this ole blog? But this time when I say I'm back I mean it.
I had every intention to post this on the official first day of Fall but Charlotte has been in a state of unrest since last Tuesday. I'm heartbroken by everything that has happened in my city. I fully support anyone's right to protest, but the violence was heartbreaking and uncalled for - especially when another life was lost as a result. The news definitely played up the violence and rioting on the first two nights but thankfully since Thursday, everything has been peaceful. I've always thought of Charlotte as a welcoming and opening city, but this week has definitely showed us that every city in this country has room to improve and grow. I hope Charlotte learns, grows and pushes forward to better the city together.
I've been to two blog classes with Megan of Freckled Italian via Skill Pop (if you're local to Charlotte or Raleigh, check them out!) and I'm really feeling a renewed energy for the blog. I've started a content calendar and everything. I'm using Evernote to plan out post ideas, too. Maybe if I stick to this, I'll write about this later on! But, this means I've already got posts written and ready to go live for at least the next two weeks and ideas for even later!
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Oh.
Does anyone remember me saying I was going to recommit to this blog in 2016? Well, it's August and I haven't posted since January. So that went very well.
I still want to, though. I'm still reading blogs and very tuned in through social media, but I really miss sitting down, putting fingers to keyboard and jotting down some random thoughts. I have recently taken some steps to really get back over here, though, and I'm putting some plans and posts together so that I can come back strong - not just sporadically posting (like I'm currently doing...).
But hey, while I'm here, why don't I give you a quick rundown of what life has looked like since January?
I still want to, though. I'm still reading blogs and very tuned in through social media, but I really miss sitting down, putting fingers to keyboard and jotting down some random thoughts. I have recently taken some steps to really get back over here, though, and I'm putting some plans and posts together so that I can come back strong - not just sporadically posting (like I'm currently doing...).
But hey, while I'm here, why don't I give you a quick rundown of what life has looked like since January?
Thursday, January 14, 2016
What to Expect at the Barre
I've talked about Pure Barre a few times on the blog and shared my love of it a few weeks back. If you missed it, check it out here. Today, I want to walk you through what a class will look like and some of the crazy terms you might hear!
Every class is similar in that it follows the same basic format, but you'll be doing different exercises within each set. But, don't believe that just because it's the same general format, doesn't mean it gets any easier. Trust me, it doesn't.
Every class is similar in that it follows the same basic format, but you'll be doing different exercises within each set. But, don't believe that just because it's the same general format, doesn't mean it gets any easier. Trust me, it doesn't.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
A Beginner's Guide to Meal Planning
So one week after recommitting to this space, here I am again. I don't know if that's actually the recommitting I meant, but at least it wasn't a month later?
I'm totally blaming this for the reason I've slacked:
She's cute, so it works as an excuse right? Great, thanks.
Today, I have some thoughts to share on meal planning. Let me preface by saying I am in NO way an expert. I literally started meal planning on Sunday. As in 3 days ago, Sunday. But, since I've just started, I have some ideas of what worked well and what I wish I had done differently.. starting with the gash on my thumb - I definitely wish I had done that differently.
But, really. I hope at least a couple of these are helpful to you!
I'm totally blaming this for the reason I've slacked:
She's cute, so it works as an excuse right? Great, thanks.
Today, I have some thoughts to share on meal planning. Let me preface by saying I am in NO way an expert. I literally started meal planning on Sunday. As in 3 days ago, Sunday. But, since I've just started, I have some ideas of what worked well and what I wish I had done differently.. starting with the gash on my thumb - I definitely wish I had done that differently.
But, really. I hope at least a couple of these are helpful to you!
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Intentions.
GUYS. I wrote this entire post, hit publish and it was gone. GONE. Talk about frustrating. That is not a good omen for the goal I have written below... Oh, well. I'm back and I'm rewriting. So I hope you all enjoy it ;)
I'm not one for resolutions. In school, I set my resolutions with the school years and never followed through. After college, I've just set lose ideas in my head and never followed through with them like "lose weight" or something else random.
But, as the year ended and blogland was all in a tizzy with goals, I got caught up in it and started thinking about 2015 and everything I (and we as a family) accomplished.
I'm not one for resolutions. In school, I set my resolutions with the school years and never followed through. After college, I've just set lose ideas in my head and never followed through with them like "lose weight" or something else random.
But, as the year ended and blogland was all in a tizzy with goals, I got caught up in it and started thinking about 2015 and everything I (and we as a family) accomplished.
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